Queens College Students Take Flyer on Sport of Kings

Nine students at Queens College have shaped a dream into a “syndicate” and have bought a 30 per cent interest in a racehorse that is scheduled to run under their colors at Aqueduct next Wednesday.

The students, all members of the college's Thoroughbred Racing Club, the only one of its kind in the City University of New York system, decided some months ago that it was not enough to read about horses, talk about horses, watch them, or even bet on than.

“We dreamed about it over and over again,” said Andrew K. Setzer, a junior and math major, who has worked summers walking horses at race tracks after workouts. “But we never thought it could be done.”

“If we get nothing else,” said Bernard Abramovicci, who is also a junior and a math major, “we get passes to the track and free parking. Usually it costs $4 for clubhouse. Now we are owners and don't have to pay that.”

“Some horses,” says Mr. Setzer, “just stay in the back of the stall. Others will nip you. This horse has nice manner. He likes to be petted. When you come to the stall, he sticks his neck out to be petted.

“I don't think he knows us yet. But after we visit him a few times with cubes of sugar, I think he'll know us.”

At one point, in an effort to raise money to buy the horse — originally they planned to own “a whole horse”—they sought financial assistance from the Student Association, the Alumni Association and even from Joseph S. Murphy, president of Queens College.

“They all declined very gracefully,” said Jeffrey H. Vogel, a freshman who plans to become an accountant.

That was about two months ago. So the problem was taken up at a meeting of the two‐year‐old Thoroughbred Racing Club, one of 20 clubs at Queens College. The club's members, more interested in horses than in betting, go to the track when they can. And they have had trainers and Paul R. Screvane, head of the Offtrack Betting Corporation, as speaketi at their meetings. But they concede that while some of their members major in math and accountancy, they are a long way from working out a “system” to make betting profitable.

$7,000 Pledged

At the meeting, the club's members were asked to pledge what each could afford toward the purchase of a horse.

At this point,” Mr. Setzer said, “we were thinking of a whole horse. But when we got to looking around and talking to trainers, we realized it would cost us about $1,000 a month for upkeep of the horse. So then we had to consider that we could buy a better horse if we bought a share of horse.”

In their search, they got help from such trainers as Jimmy Chester, Steve Di Mauro and William J. Resseguet Jr. as they were guided among stables and introduced to other trainers. They watched workouts and sat as guests in racetrack boxes.

By this time, the syndicate had filed a name, Que‐Cee Stable. The Jockey Club would not allow the use of Queens College. The grout considered using the school colors of silver and black, but voted this down in favor of green and gold.

Now the pledges were materializing into cash, and a bank was sought. The racing stable—still without a horse—was told it would have to incorporate, and was referred to the Queens County Clerk's office. To the syndicate, this seemed a waste of time — and probably money.

The answer to their problem came when Barclay's opened a new branch that offered “free checking.”

“We opened a checking account for $300 and a sayings account for $500,” Mr. Setzer said. “We didn't tell them why and they didn't ask us.”

Back at the track, Mr. Chester introduced them to another trainer, E. Barry Ryan, who had some horses to sell. One of these was a horse stable at Millionaire's Row at Belmont, Mycerinus, by Gallant Man, out of Blinking Light.

There was some discussion about whether a 2‐year‐old might be more desirable. This was turned down.

“We wanted a horse who'd be ready to run for us,” said Mr. Abramovici. “There are not enough faces for a 2‐year‐old.”

The syndicate, despite exam fever, found time to study X‐rays of Mycerinus's legs; learned that it was named after an Egyptian Pharaoh or some of years ago. They learned it had run nine times as a 3‐year‐old, winning once, finishing second once and third once. And a week ago Saturday they watched Mycerinus in competition at Aqueduct. It finished sixth.

“But that race was just a sprint—six furlongs,” said Mr. Setzer. “Not the right distance for this horse.”

A 30% Share

So on Monday, the syndicate bought 30 per cent of Mycerinus, 70 per cent remaining with Mr. Ryan. The pnce is being kept more than an Egyptian tomb.

“We just want it clearly umderstood,” Mr. Setzer, said “that the school did not put up a penny. It's all our money.”

Some of the parents of syndicate members had slight reservations about this business for a while.

“But they realized we're all in this for the fun,” Mr. Vogel said. “And if we make some money, that's fine too.”

“We hope nobody claims him when he runs next Wednesday. It's a $25,000 claiming race,”

This means that even 18 the horse wins, anyone who posts the money before the race gets the horse.

“We're looking forward to seeing our colors on a horse,” he said. “We'd be heartbroken with a stable and no horse, even if we made a profit on the sale.”

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A version of this archives appears in print on May 23, 1975, on Page 41 of the New York edition with the headline: Queens College Students Take Flyer on Sport of Kings. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe